Spring Break 2010

While Christy was on Spring Break this year, James took a few days off work as well to enjoy a little of the Spring Breaking.

On Wednesday, we went to Castlewood Canyon, which is south of Denver near Castle Rock. We hiked a loop around the canyon that was a little over 4 miles. We were pretty tired afterwards, but not as tired as Cooper who had just experienced his first hike! He did great and kept up. He didn't like the gaps between the boulders that we sometimes had to cross, but as it turns out, neither does Christy.

On Thursday James had to work on his 3rd out of 4 papers for his English class that he's taking at Metro State College of Denver. No pictures of that.

Then on Friday we wanted to go to the Science Museum until we realized that Bodyworlds was there and everyone and their school bus was THERE. So instead we ate at Garbanzo (not all that great, Falafel King is way better), walked the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver and went to the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art (WEIRD!).

We topped the week off with General Conference and Easter dinner with Jen, Travis (Jen's boyfriend) and Mike. It was a good week.

With this post we have officially surpassed our blog post record for last year. Whew! See you in 2011! Just kidding...hopefully.

Queen for a Day (Or a Weekend)

This past weekend James planned our date and he sure planned a winner! We went to Falafel King for dinner, which we both love! We probably go there 1 out of every 7 dates. If you are in the Denver area you should try it. It's kind of like a mediterranean Chipotle, you order your food and take it to your seat. Their falafel is very delicious.

After dinner we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and saw an IMAX movie, which was pretty good. Between dinner and the movie we had some extra time so we were walking around Home Depot and decided to buy the sink we have been eyeing for several months. This is what makes me feel like a queen! Its so much deeper and nicer than our old, standard, original furnishing, stainless steel sink. My brother Mike helped install it.

Why I Love Sunday/Things I'm Grateful For

I wake up every Sunday feeling so good! It is the only day we don't wake up to an alarm and I love it! We have church at 1pm this year, so there is time on Sunday to shave my legs (if I feel so inclined), to sit and write in my journal and read my scriptures. There is time to reconcile our bank account and eat breakfast together. Cooper doesn't get locked up in his crate right away.

There are several things I have felt grateful for lately. I will make a list:

1. Family-We have my parents close by which is really nice to be able to spend time with them on Sunday afternoons/evenings. We usually go over for dinner and last week they treated James to some of his favorites because James got a promotion at work. Also, they have given us some of their hand-me-downs that we really appreciate! (dishwasher, washer and dryer, keyboard)

2. Temple-We work at the temple every Saturday and I'm especially grateful for the associations we have with the great people that work there. There are so many good examples and we feel like they are like an extra Ward Family.

3. Jobs- James and I both have steady jobs which is a big deal in this economy. James works for Cigna and I am a full-time substitute.

4. Tax Returns!- We used our tax returns for such exciting things as paying off our credit card, putting money toward our car loan, a new suit for James (his first in a LONG time), some well-needed tires and a long overdue haircut for me.

5. Scrapbooking/Card Making- I have been taking some time for the creative juices to flow and it is my escape. Even if I can't get the kids to do what I want them to, at least I can make the paper do what I want it to.

Superbowl Weekend

James and I went to Utah for Superbowl Weekend. We had found some cheap plane tickets and James' friend had invited us for a Superbowl Party, plus it has been a while since we have seen Laura and Jeff. We got there Thursday night and the first thing we did was go to In N Out Burger, just to see what all the fuss was about. It was good. So good, in fact, that we also went there Saturday night for dinner.

James and I spent Friday at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. We were also planning to do a session at the Draper Temple, but it was closed for cleaning, which we didn't realize until we got up there, so we just took a picture of it.

Friday night we went to see Avatar in 3D. I have to admit, it was really good.

Saturday night Laura, Jeff, James and I decided to take some pictures of how it would look if we were getting engagement pictures taken at the Provo temple. Engagement pictures have changed just in the past couple years, have you noticed? No one is looking at each other anymore.

Sunday night we went and watched the Superbowl with Ryan, Erin, baby Logan, Nathan, Laura, and Jeff. Go Patriots! Also, I ate so much I thought I might throw up.

Monday we went to the Provo temple, and then headed back to Denver.

Valentine's Day 2010

This is what the Mathatas Valentine's Day looked like this year. James' sent roses to work, which I would have liked to have kept in the classroom, but I didn't trust the preschoolers not to knock them over.

I got James some XBOX accessories, including this chatpad which makes it easier to talk to friends who have XBOX live and also to update his facebook status.

We exchanged cards (can you guess which one is from Christy and which one is from James?) and went to Olive Garden for dinner.

Olive Garden was a highlight. The food never tasted so good and we had a really awesome waitress whom we tipped well for her service. We celebrated on Friday night, but when we woke up on Sunday morning it was snowing. Beautiful Valentine's Day! I love the snow. I'm the one who keeps looking out the window to see if its still snowing and how much snow is on the ground.

Weekend in Conifer

James' cousin has a cabin in Conifer, CO (about an hour away). We went up this weekend for a little R&R with some friends, John and Ashley, and Christy's parents came up for Saturday. We played board games, ate good food, played pool, watched some movies and worked on a puzzle. It was nice to get away and the view was amazing! Also, we saw a young buck with little antlers, a large red fox and a chipmunk. The only disappointing part was last time we went there was a hot tub and this time the hot tub was gone : (.

Relax... Recap

Well, it has been quite some time since we updated our blog, as we are reminded almost weekly by Christy’s mom.

Since last April:

1. We brought our puppy Cooper home

2. Went to Ohio to visit James’ family (Christy with her trophy largemouth bass)

3. Survived camping in Utah with Christy’s family (Bad Mosquitoes and long walks downhill)

4. James received a promotion at work

5. Celebrated our 1 year anniversary

6. Christy went to Girl’s Camp (Ward camp director)

7. We bought a 2bed 2bath condo in Aurora and moved into it as well as making several improvements.

8. Enjoyed getting to know our new ward, while serving as ward missionaries

9. Travelled to Washington DC for James’ grandfather’s memorial service

10. Shared Thanksgiving with James’ mom in Colorado

11. Enjoyed Christmas in Colorado with Christy’s family including the Mathews who came from Portland

We look forward to all the excitement this year will bring....which we probably won’t blog about. But let’s just see. Maybe we’ll change our habits.